More Info" 'A' Week on Facebook ran from 29 March 2010 to 6 April 2010. 'A' Week was an online event to raise awareness that the world is full of people who are 'good without God' and who don't need religion to influence their lives.

Become a fan of 'A' Week to receive the latest updates, news of any future events, and to network and connect with like-minded people - click 'Become a Fan' here --->

Over 15,000 people took part, changing their profile picture to an 'A' for a week...

Wait? What Facebook? Nope...Here in the Philippines, 'A' Week will be more than a Facebook activity. Atheists will come out in the open and tell to the world that we are proud to wear the 'A' label.

Join other fellow non-believers and tell them that We are Good without God.

Funny enough, I always doubted God since I was five. My community is a straight Catholic area. Everyone goes to church on a weekend basis. Other religions are unfairly misjudged and treated like lepers in our small society. I hated that, but I then felt that it's an unfair world for the minorities.

Back then, my mom usually brings me to our parish church. It's as big as a cathedral, complete with painted ceilings that look like Sistine Chapel. But then, I realized that everything I'm seeing are comparable to fairy tales, and our priest is the storyteller.

when i was 10, I was always told by my relatives that I'm a lazy churchgoer, but they didn't know that I'm disbelieving the values formation of their religion. I just thought Catholicism wasn't for me.

at 13, i was coerced by my grandparents to be an acolyte, and I did simply because I was receiving money right after every Mass. Bear an hour of standing around,boring conversations and singsong foolishness for P100 wasn't really bad. Back then, I got to meet a lot of people since I loved to go on adventures. I met people from different religions and tried each one of them.

by 14, I tried to be a Buddhist. A japanese friend asked me to try it out since they had a somehow small temple at their house. All the hours of meditation was good at first, but it somehow made me think that it limits me as human. I was still an acolyte. A few months after, I had a girlfriend who was an Iglesia ni Cristo. Tried it out. Didn't work for me because it was still god centered and it was stupid how they would get scriptures and stuff.

by 15, another girlfriend of mine was a Jehovah's Witness. I tried again, and darn i got out immediately. too many restrictions, mayhem and foolishness. I graduated the same year, opting to go to UP, but to no avail.

by 16, I stopped going to church. I read manuscripts about all religions to learn and defy them. Jewish, Islam, Scientology, JIL, Satanism...I learned them all. At this point, i got to learn that i should respect all religions but keep myself atheist.

I am in a Christian school, and hell I don't care of their modern theology and their catholic practices. I'm currently in the school paper- a neutral team of different religions and nonbelievers. Here i can speak freely without ever being prejudiced.

I'm an atheist, hear me...
... dissect and analyze any claim made without sufficient documentation and perspective.
... stand up to those who claim to have a monopoly on moral/ethical understanding.
... promote a more human approach to sustainability, growth, and happiness.
... disagree, withhold my judgment till I have all the facts straight as well and change my mind when new information comes up.

In addition to Ian's points on secularization, the restoration and full enforcement of the principle of separation of church and state is supposed to be our constitutional protection from people like Amadinajad (spelling?--Iranian president), things like Proposition 8---ironically from the very country that first enshrined this separation principle, and the invasion of state university faculty departments by academics from religious schools.

"An atheist American friend of mine that lives in the Phil -- a very big & tough guy with lots of military & martial arts training -- recently wrote to me that it is dangerous to publically announce one's atheism there. He added that he has been silent about his atheism for that reason. I wonder how many Filipinos would agree?"

I started becoming skeptical when I was about 13 yrs old, I was a Roman Catholic, and have fundies for relatives. I studied in a public high school, which was supposed to be neutral about spirituality issues, but conducted First Friday masses; Values Education (VE) subjects consisted of requiring students to memorize books of the bible and accepting Jesus in their hearts. When I was 15, my VE teacher found out about my atheism from a tattletale classmate, and I was attacked emotionally and mentally in the succeeding lectures. I was called crazy by my evangelist teacher. Though I tried to fight back by correcting his views of atheists and atheism, I eventually had to feign belief in Christianity just so I could graduate. That was the only time in my life that I had to deny being an atheist. I quit my religious organization and proceeded on writing an atheism research paper for my English subject during my senior year. We were promised that the top papers would be displayed in the library as reference materials. Unfortunately, mine never got the chance to be displayed. I believe it was due to my teacher's fear of causing uproar in the students and faculty. But I also viewed it as her act of protecting me.

The incidents above happened in a very small and religious community. Religiosity is ubiquitous in rural communities in the country.

I study in a university where freedom of choice and secularity is valued highly. I have had countless experiences where I had the need to give my opinion as a nonbeliever, I have only been mocked once. I have had atheist teachers. I've never had a fundamentalist teacher. And there's even an organization called the Atheist Circle.

People only find out I'm an atheist when I tell them. And I only tell them when I am asked about it or when there really is a need to refer to my belief system. XD

But I have been invited over and over again to attend church services. I recently attended one, about two weeks ago, and I have to say...religion hasn't changed, their techniques in playing with the psychology of the people are still the same. Religion is mind play and spirituality is a state of mind.

Erm. Anyway, there, I don't really believe that announcing your atheism here is dangerous. But, of course, there are consequences. Like being called "atheist girl" by your officemates, being asked a series of questions about where you base your morality, and being called stupid every now and then. But that's about it.

The most dangerous thing that could possibly happen to you is the never-ending knock on your door by evangelists. Once the evangelist neighbor finds out you're an atheist, expect an invitation to a bible reading session everyday.

I have never been chased off by angry Christians. :)

P.S. The conclusions is, of course, based on my experiences. I'm not really sure if it's actually dangerous in other parts of the country. XD But maybe in the southern area. *shrugs*